High miles on Honda SH150I

I'm looking at a 2010 Honda SH150I for my 20 year old son. He got a job and is about 5 miles one way from new job. I feel a scooter is good transportation with low insurance costs.

Question - The scooter I'm looking at was a daily driver for a gentleman, rode every day. I don't know the maintenance history and the scooter has 16,000 miles on it. Is that high for a scooter and is it something I should shy away from. A dealer has it now and it's my understanding these machines operate at higher rpm's.

Any inside hints about telling it's condition while at the dealer?

Also I am going to pay for him to go through the 2 day Virginia rider course for his safety

Has the belt been replaced? At what miles does Honda say it should be replaced? Ck to see if the maintenance was done.
With an auto I ask the dealer to run the vin and see what warranted work was done.

If it runs out ok, looks good and sounds good. who knows what will go wrong and when. Just ride it and let it build your confidence.

I blew up a Honda Reflex at 22k miles, but that was after the previous owner wrapped a tree, I fixed it, then neglected it for a year. It blew up after driving at redline 2-up on the highway for about 10 minutes. The drivetrain had been modified, I had put a really tall car tire on it to get more top speed, and it was about 2000 miles overdue for an oil change...

I was younger and stupider than I am now. Either way, the fact that that Reflex survived what I put it through was a miracle. I ended up trading the broken Reflex for a running Vino. The new owner managed to get the engine fixed (new top end, I think) and put another 10k miles on it before selling it again.

16k isn't high for a scooter, especially if its been taken care of. If the maintenance has been kept up with, the oil feels and smells good, and it runs well, I think it's worth it.

If it was taken care of (you can usually tell just by looking at it) If it shows less than normal wear for it's mileage, and is clean. then it is probably ok. About the only thing scooters need in the way of maintenance that a motorcycle doesn't is the belt and possibly the rollers replaced once in a while. Neither is expensive, unless you have it done by a dealer. A dealer will charge you $50 labor to add air to the tires. Most have a 1/2 hour minimum on labor, and dealer labor rates run around $100 an hour.

I have 17,000 miles on an '08 Vino 125, almost all of it at wide open throttle. The belt has been replaced once (by me), other than that, just routine maintenance, though I do tend to over maintain it. I change the oil about every 1000 miles, and am on my third rear tire, second front tire. I'm also on the heavy side at 220. I fully expect this scooter to last 50,000 miles. Valve adjustment is super easy. But do some research on that for the scooter you are considering. I was about to buy a new PCX150, till I discovered it takes over 3 hours just to remove and replace bodywork to get to the valves. I now plan on a Zuma 125. ( I don't really need it right now, but a dealer made me a ridiculous trade in offer on a crotch rocket I want to get rid of, so I decided to just trade and not have to deal with Craigslist) I plan on riding scooters the rest of my life, and just keeping one motorcycle, a cruiser.

Yeah, 16k is NOTHING. I'm approaching 20k on my '98 Helix, and aside from normal maintenance stuff, it's needed nothing unusual. At 16k, I recommend the following (assuming you have no history, or this stuff hasn't been done)

(I) = Inspect. (R) = Replace

Belt (R)

Sliders/Rollers (R)

Engine Oil (R) (Use full synthetic; any will do, and this has no wet clutch, so you can use automotive synthetic oil)

Final drive oil (R)
Brakes (I)

Brake fluid (R)

Tires (I)
Valve clearance (I)

Coolant (R) (Remember; only use Honda coolant, or silicate-free equivalent)

Also check for any obvious oil leaks, rust (indicating it was ridden in the rain or early in the season, when salt is still on the roads).